Landing gear for dirigible airships



Feb. 16, 1932'.

4 A. BRADsHAw LANDING GEAR FOR DIRIGIBLE AIRSHIPS Feb. 16, 1932. A, BRASHAW I 1,845,229

LANDING GEAR FOR DIRIIGIBLE AIRSHIPS FuQed May 27, 1930 5 sheets-sheet 2 Feb. 16,- 1932. A. BRADsHAw' 1,845,229

LANDING GEAR FOR DIRIGIBLE AIRSHIPS n Filed May 27, 1930 3 Sheets-sheet 3 Patented Feb. 16, 1932 UNITED ls"`lA'1.=.s PATENT .oFFl'cE" LANDING GEAR FORDZIRIGIBLE nmsnlrs Y Applmationmed Haye?, 1930; serial No. 456,154.

`This invention relates to a landing gear for dirigible airshipsand has for one o'f'itsob-4 jectsl to provide a device kof this character necessary to permit it to enter its hangar,

and-through the medium of which the airship after being lowered may be hauled by'itspown crew into the-hangar.

The invention has for a further objec'tto provide a device of the,V character ystated through the medium of which thefairship may be hauledY from its hangar by `itsrown crew and which shall be adapted to permit.V the crew after boarding the airship to release y t tion and partlyin sideelevation of one form it for flight.

The invention has for a further'object to provide a device of the character stated which in the construction, combination and arrange` ment of part-s hereinafter fully deseribedand claimed, and illustrated in the *accompanying drawings, wherein Figure l is a view in side elevationv of the landing gear with an airship anchored-there? to and with the landing gear'and airship in position to be hauled into a hangar; y K

Figure 2 is a top plan View ofthe landing gearv with the anchors engaged therewith;

Figure 3 is a sectional viewtaken on a ver,- tical plane extending longitudinally and centrally through the landing gear;v y y Figure l is a View partly invertical section and partly in front. elevation of the landing gear; .v5.4.7 Figure 5 is a view-partly in frontelevation lend-12and isilully open at, its rear end.

and partly in vertical section of the bodyv of thelanding gear,y .Y l L .Figure 6 is a viewpartly in ,vertical section and partly in elevation illustrating aslightly modified form of themeans for connecting o the latch platesto the'body; l

F iguref? isa view infront elevation illus'- trating amodilied form of the means -for closingthe front end `of thefcablemreceiving `slot of theianchor gear; f n jv Figure 8 isa View partly in horizontal sec,- tion and partly in top plan illustratingV 'a modiiedlform' of the means `for rotatably supporting' the body of the landing gear upon 'itstruclq Figure 9 1s a sectional viewof the means shown'lnfFigure 8; i Figure' 10 A is a view partly 1n vertlcalv secofthe means forreleasing thelatch plates.: Figure ll is a view in side elevation, `and j Figure l2 is aview in top plan of a slightly modified-form of the landing gear. f

-Referring in detailto the drawings, 1' designates af hangar, 2 a dirigible airship, and 3 the landing` gear. f 1 f z .The'landing gear 3 comprises a truck 4 which ismounted'upon rails 5 fior movement which arelaidiwith their upper sides in aline'- l yment with the surface of the ground and the floor ofthe hangar 1,are of channel formal tion Vincross section and arrangedy withl .their open sides in opposed relation, andthe wheels p 6 ofthe truck4 arearranged inthe rails', y'so as to hold thetruckagainst lateral and vertical displacement. 1 1 Y n vThe truck .4 is provided `at its centerwith a pedestal y7, and mounted upon thepedestal is a body 8 ,of elongated yrectangular formae5. -tionin'plan Thebody 8 is secured, as at9, to the pedestal 7 for rotation about a vertical axis withrespect tothe truck 4. The body 8 comprises a bottoni` l0, sidesll, and a front longitudinal edges arrangedfin spaced relation to provide a slot 17 extending longitudinally of and communicating with the body.

The slot 17 is adapted for the reception ot cables 18 suspended from the airship 2 and provided at their lowerA ends with anchors 19 which, when the cables are in the slot, arer arranged in the body 8 and contact; with the lower sides of the latch plates 14. The front end vof the slot 17is closed by the front 12 ot the body 8.Y The rear end of the body 8 andthe rear end of the slot 17 arefopen to permit the cables 18 to enter the slot and the anchors 19 to enter the body. .The rear end of the body'8 is formed to provide a flaring entrance 2O to the body and to the'slot 17. The anchors 19 are` preferably of spherical formation, and due thereto and to the flaring entrance 20, they and the cables 18 maybe readily directed'into the body 8- and Yslot 17. To prevent the cables 18 and the anchors 19 from'. bein withdrawn from the rear end oiV the slot 1r and body 8, a latchrv 21 is eml vso ployed. The latch 21 extends across Vthe rear end'ot the slot V17, and is pivoted, as at' 22,

to one of the latch plates 14.1- The latch 21 is yieldingly held in active position across the slot 17 by a spring 28, and its movement under the influence of the spring is limited by a stop 24 carried by the latch plate 14 to which it is secured. The latch21 extends in av torwardly inclined direction across thel slot 17, and it moves'forwardly into `an inactive position under the pressure exerted thereon by the cables 18 while'they are entering the slot. After the cables 18 have enteredthe slots 17, theflatch' 21 is returned to its active position by the spring 23,-and Vitis held against y any rearward movement from this position bythestop 24. vy As they are pivotally 'connected to the body 8, the latchplates 14 may occupy an-active or'inac'tive position. When they arev in active position, the latch plates14 extend horizontallyacross thenpper side of the body`8 and prevent the withdrawal of the anchors 19 from the body. When they are in an inactive position, the latch plates 14 extend in an upwardly and inwardly inclined position with respect to the body8 andv permit the anchors 19 to be withdrawn from the body. The `latch plates 14 are normally held in active position lby levers 25 which are arranged outwardly of 'and at the'sideS 0f the body` 8. The levers 25 are pivotally connected at vtheir lower ends, as at 26,'to the body 8, and

kdesired to maintain the anchors 19 in engagement with the body 8 and Jfor moving the levers into latch plate releasing position when it is desired to release the anchors.

This means comprises a vertical cylinder 27 xed, Vas at 28, tothe front end of the body v8, a piston 29 rec'iprocably mounted in the cylinder, a rod 30 fixed to the piston and extending through the upper end of the cylinder andv having its upper end mounted in a guide 31 lixed to the front of the body, a spring 32 mounted on the rod between the guide and a collar 83 fixed to the rod, and links 84 pivoted to the collar and to the foremost of the 1revers 25.

: The Vspring V 32 normally piston 29 in the Vlower end of the cylinder 27, andV it also normally maintains .the links 84 in a position toihold the levers 25 inlatch plate engaging position. One of the links 34 is extended to provide a lever 35 through the medium-'ot which the links may be manually Vactuated to effect theimovementof the levers landinggear 3 byV a memberof the crew lett on theA ground. Y A cartridge 36 of compressed gas is connected, as at 37, to the cylinder 27 at a point below the-piston 29. The cartridge is provided with a valve 38 which when open permits Yits gas-to pass into the cylinder 27, with the result that the piston 29 will be moved upwardly and the levers 25 moved into latch plate 'releasing position. The valve 38 is adapted to be opened by aline extending therefrom to the `airship 2. It will thus be seen that-the-cartridge 36 'provides means through the medium .ot'which the airship 2 may be released from the landing gear 3 by Onesofj-the ,crew in the airship. It desired, a cart-ridge of explosive powder may be used instead'of the cartridge l 36. The cartridge 40 ot explosive powder will, when used, be connected to the cylinder27, as at 41, and it will be provided with a detonator, not shown, adapted to beoperated from thev airship 2 through themedium of an electric cable 42.

'if he cables '18 lextend from the bottom of the airship 2, andare Aconnected to drums, not shown, carried'by the airship. A cable 43extends downwardly from the nose of the airship 2, and is provided at its lower end maintains the' with a spherical anchor 44. lThis cable, which is also connected to a drum, not shown,

in the airship 2 is adapted to engage in aV slot 45 formedv in aV standard 46extendingupwardly from a forwardly directed extension 47 of the bottom 10 of the body 8. The slot 45 is veitically arranged and opens out through the upper end of the standard 46, the front side of which is engagedby the anchor 44 when the cable 43 is in theslot. To facilitate the entrance of the cable 43 into the slot 45, the standard 46 is provided at its upper end with forwardly directed guide arms 48 which` diverge forwardly from opposite sides of the upper end of the slot.

Inf practice, when it is desired to prepare for the landing of an airship, thelanding gear 3 is moved to the desiredv place on the landing field with the body' 8l heading into the wind. The body 8 is supported oir the pedestal 7 by ball bearings 49 to permit it to rotate freely about its aXis Qand thus permit it to be maintained headed into the wind by the action of the windfagainst the outer sides of theiilared entrance 2O tol thcl body and slot 17. The'airship approaches the landing gear 3 against the wind and with the cables 18 depending therefrom. VAs the airship moves over the landing "gear 3, the anchors `19`are directed by the flared. entrance 20 intothebody 8 and the cables 18 are at the same time directed into the slot 17. f l/Vhen the Vfront anchor 19 reaches the frontend of the body 8, the airship assumes theposition in which it is shownby dotted `lines in Figure 1. y

The cable 43 is now lowered to position it in front ofthe standard 46 between the guide arms 48. The motors of the airship are now slowed down, and the cables 18 are wound on their drums until the airship is lowered into the position in which it is shown by solid lines. Vhile being lowered, theairship moves rea-rwardly with respect to thestandard 46, and during this movement' thereof, the cable-43 is carried into the slot 45, the cable being wound on its drum to carry the anchor-44 into engagement with the front side of the standard 46. The airship is now firmly anchored to the landing gear 3. body 8 rhas been turned upon the truck4 to head it and the airship in the direction'of the hangar 1, the truck is hauled along its rails 5 to convey the airship into the hangar.

When the airship is to start on a flight, it is hauled out onto the field. The airship may be released from the landing gear 3by a personon the landing field pressing downwardly upon the lever 35. If desired, the airship may be released from the landing gear by one of its own crew through the medium of the cartridge 36 or40, theformer being adaptedto be operated fromlaboard'the airshipthrougli the medium of the line 39 andthe latterbeing adapted to be operatedfrom aboard the air- A'fter the Shipth'llgh' 'the mediumvv ofY thek electric cable42.: Y l l If desired,1the latchplates maybe mounted `upon the body 8 for sliding inovei'nentinto` anchor engagingy or anchor releasing position,

as shown inFigure 6.V In this figure,the-latch plates, here designated 14a, .are mounted in slides `,50 carried bythe upperedgesof the sides 1'1 ofthe body` 8. Means are'employed for holding the latch plates 14 in anchorl engaging-'position and for moving them into anchor 'releasing' position. vThis means is similar to that shown in Figure Vfwith the eXceptionthat the levers 25 arepivotally and vpermit the airship to drag the anchors from the front end of thebody 8 as it is propelled` away from the landing gear. 4When this stop,

which isjshow-n in'Figure-7 is used,;thelatch plates maybe fixed rigidly to the body 8. The landing gear does -not'require the Vuse of two cables suspended from the :bottom of thel airship vat opposite sides of its transverse center, in addition to the one suspended Vfrom the nose of :the airship'. If desired, the. airship f may be'equipped `with one cable suspended from its noseand one` cable suspended 'from its transverse center, or ,it may be equipped with two cables suspendedfrom its nose. The' airship:A is `shown l in` Figures 11 and 12 equipped withv two cables-suspended from its nose, one'of the cables being designated-43 Vand the otherv 43", andthe anchors carried by the cables beingI designated43 and43d. The anchor 43c isadapted to be engaged with the latchplates l4and1the anchor43d is adapted to be engaged with the standard 46.y If desired, the part 46 maybe arranged horizontally,as shown in these figures, such part -bcing here designated,` 46:L and constituting a part of the extension 47 of the bottom 10. The anchor engaging element 462?L is provided with a slot 45a for'the reception of the cable 43 or43b, and itis formedto-provide a flaring entrance48a for the slot. The provision .of

Vthe airship kwith two cablessuspended from itsnose enables the airship to be anchored to the landing gear in thesame manner that such ships are Vnow anchored to a mooring mast,

, with the advantage of doing away with the expensive mooring mast. VThe use of these cables enables the landing gear Lto be considerably shortened, andalso permits the anchoring ofthe airship to the landing gear during astorm.. w f

If desired, the lbody 8 may be supported from-the truck 4 by two-ormore wheels `53-at tached to the bodyy and running o n-a Vcircular track 54 attached toathe truck, as shown in Figure 9. The cylinder 37 is, as shown in Figure', provided aboveits horizontal center i with an openingwhichpermits the air the cylinder and thus enable the levers 25tov be returned to their active position by the spring 32, the levers returning to such position after the anchor or anchors have'b'een .disengaged from the latch plates 14 and the latch plates have returned to their normal or active position. 'Thelatch plates 14 could be fixed in a stationary manner to the body 8, the rearA latch 21 couldbe omitted and the front end of the slot 17 could be closed by the front wall 12er thebody or bythe retractible bolt 52.

While I have described the principle of thel invention, together with vthe structure which I now consider thepreferred embodiment thereof,it kis to befunde'rstood that the structure shown is merely illustrative and that such changes may be made, whenidesired, Vas fall within the scope of the invention 'as claimed.` lclaim'z'- 'y l.. A landing gear for an "airship, comprising a hollow body open at itsrear end andprovided in its upper side with a slot open at its :rear end, an anchor adapted to enter the body through the open end' of the later, a member adapted to suspend the anchor from ythe bottom of the airship and adapted toenter the slotas the anchor enters the body, astandard'arranged forwardly beyond the body and provided with a vertical slot, amember adapted to be secured to the nose of the airship and adapted to enter 'the slot of thefstandard, and

an anchor carried by Ysaidlast/member and adapted to contact with thefront side .of the standard. l

2, A landing gear for an airship, compris` ing a hollow body open at its rear end and provided in its upper side with a slotopen at its rear end, an anchor adapted to enter the body through the open end of the latter, a member adapted to suspendthe anchor from the bottom of the airship and adapted to enter theslot as the anchor enters the body, a standard arranged forwardly beyond the body and Y provided with a vertical slot, a member adapted to be secured to the nosel of the airshipl and adaptedv to enter the slot of the standard, an anchor carried by said last member and adapted to contact with the front side of the standard, yand arms extending in forwardly divergentrelation from they standardv ote'd to the body for movement into active or inactive position, pivoted levers engaging Y said elements to hold them in active position,

means holding' the levers against accidental movement out of engagement with said elements, and means by which the levers may be moved out of engagement with said elements to permit the latter to be moved into inactive position. Y

ll. A landing gear for an airship, comprising a body, anchor engaging elements pivoted to the body for movement into active or inactive position, pivoted levers engaging said elements to hold them in `active position, means holding the levers against accidental movement out of engagement'with said elements, and means associated with said irst means and adapted to be operated to move the levers out of engagement with said elements to permit the latter to be moved into inactive position.

5. A landing gear for an airship, comprising a body, anchor engaging elements pivoted to the body for movement into active or inactive position, pivoted levers engaging said elements to hold them in active position,.means holding the levers against accidental movement out of engagement with said elements, a cylinder, a piston mounted in the cylinder, links connected tothe piston and levers, means yieldably holding the links in position to prevent the levers from accidently moving out of engagement with said elements, and a Acartridge connectedto the cylinder and adapted to Abe controlled to permit a piston operating medium to be directed therefrom intothe cylinder;theoperation of the piston bysaid medium being adapted to effect the movement of the levers out of engagement with said elements to permit the latter to be moved into inactive position.

6. A landing gear Ior an airship, comprising a truck, a body rotatably mounted on the truck, anchor engaging elementsV mounted on the body and eXtending-rom the front to the rear end thereof and arranged to provide therebetween a slot, and elements, eX- tending laterally'and rearwardly from the rear end of the body and adapted to be engaged by the wind to maintain the body headed into the win l. y Y

7. A landing gear for an airship, compris ing a truck, a hollow body open at its rear end and provided with a flaring entrance for said end, latch plates, arranged at the upper side of the body and spaced to provide therelbetweena slot communicating at its rear end the upper side of the body and spaced to provide therebetween a slot communicating at its rear end with said entrance, means pivotally connecting the latch lates to the body, means carried by the bo y and releasably engaging the latch plates to hold them against pivotal movement, means by which said second means-may be moved lout of engagement with the latch plates, a member extending forwardly from the body, a standard at the front end of said member and provided with a vertical slot open at its upper end, and guide arms extending in forwardly .divergent relation from the standard at opposite sides of the upper ends of the slots.

9. A landing gear for an airship, comprising anchor engaging elements arranged to provide therebetween a slot open at one end, and a retractible member extendingacross the other end of the slot.

10. A landing gear for an airship, com- 'prising anchor engaging elements arranged to provide therebetween a slot, ya latch extending across therslot near one end thereof, and a retractible member extending` across the other end of the slot.

11. A landing gear for an airship, comprising anchor engaging elements arranged to provide therebetweena slot open at its rear end, and another anchor engaging element located below and forwardly ofrsaid first elements and provided with a slot open at its front end.

12. A landing gear for an airship, comprising a truck, anchor engaging elements mounted on the truck and arranged to provide Vthere-k between a slot open atone end, means rotatably mounting the anchor engaging elements on the truck, and means adapted to be engaged by the wind to maintain the anchoring elements in position on the truck to present the opened end of said slot to the wind.

18. A landing gear for an airship, comprising anchor engaging elements of elongated formation and arranged to provide therebetween a slot extending longitudinally thereof and Vopen at one end, means supporting said elements for relative movement into active or inactive position, and means releasably holding said elements in active position.

14. A landing gearv for an airship, comprising anchor engaging elements of elongated formation and arranged to prQ-vide therebetween a slot extending longitudinally thereof and open at one end,means supporting said elements for relative movement into active or inactive position, means releasably holding said elements in active position, and means by which said second means may be actuated to effect the release of said elements.

15. A landing gear for an airship, comprising a rotatably mounted body, a member extending forwardly from the body and provided with an anchor receiving slot having a forwardly diverging entrance, and means carried by the body for engagement by the wind to maintain the body' in position to present the entrance of said slot to the wind.

, 16. Al-anding gear for an airship, comprising anchor engaging elements arranged to provide therebetween a slot open at its rear signature. v

ALFRED BRADSHAW. 

